AMD Athlon 64 question - is integrated FSB into a CPU good?

[Master Chief]

Hi all, I've been deciding on a new mobo. Been looking into Abit(I like Abit! ).
I'm deciding between nForce 3 and nForce 2 mobos. I have an AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Currently, I can run it at 2.2ghz. I know with nForce 3 you need an AMD 64. So, I've been hunting around newegg and shopzilla and google for info on these processors. I've found that the core that you should get is the "Venice" core since it allows for great overclocking(I've heard rumors of 2.8ghz on stock cooling!). On newegg, they are selling AMD Athlon 64 3200+ CPUs with the venice core. The thing is, it says the Frontside Bus is integrated into the CPU. Is this good or bad? I dont want one with the newcastle core, since I heard they give weak overclocks. I heard the clawhammer core OCs nicely to, but Venice is better.

I also want to know what your tastes on nForce 3 are. Is it really worth it? If I get an nForce 2 board, I can save some money, use the processor I have now, and get a nice system running, and FINALLY get my GeForce 6600GT running in AGP 8x . I can do all the same with nForce 3, only I also need to upgrade the processor. Hmm, maybe even the PSU(I only have 360 watts). Tastes would be appreciated!

EDIT: O, and I'm not considering nForce 4. I can still get alot out of AGP and I dont want PCI Express just yet.

[Noxious Ninja]

Itengrated memory controller, maybe, but integrated FSB? What the heck were you reading?

[Master Chief]

Ok, ok, it doesnt come in its box, but it has the venice core damnit and thats what I want.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103534

Look under Tech Specs and look at FSB. It says Integrated into Chip.

[Master Chief]

O hell, its a good thing I looked at that a little closer! I see its the wrong socket for the mobo I've been considering. That processor is Socket 939, and the mobo I've been considering is Socket 754. O well...anyone know where I can find an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ with a Venice Core? Clawhammer would be nice to. Anything but newcastle.

[n_w95482]

You should be able to easily find it on Newegg, unless they're out of stock. I recommend you get a board with the nForce3 Ultra chipset as it's Socket 939.

[Master Chief]

nForce 3 Ultra? Is there such a thing? I've heard of the nForce 3 250gb, but not an ultra(as far as I remember). Hmm, i cant find any Abit or Asus(Which are the only Socket A's I've ever used) boards with nForce 3 Ultra, also, I dont plan on getting something TO expensive. Could you point me to some of these boards with nForce 3 Ultra?

[n_w95482]

If you want a really nice NF3 board, get this. I was going to get that one until I was able to jump to PCI-e.

[Viper_Viper]

Read this on the crazy overclocking abilitys!

[Esturk]

Hmm.. how about an Nforce4 Ultra board with Socket 939? My buddy got an ASUS A8N-E with an Athlon64 3000+ and it's a beautiful thing. PCI Express is nice, and also the way of the future. We could have gone with a board with AGP.. but that would be limiting him in the future.

[Master Chief]

PCI Express is nice, but, no game really is written to use all the power of two GPUs currently. I know some games are SLI ready, but still. The only time you get the full power out of two 7800 GTX cards is if your using a tech demo. Currently, they are good for using high screen resolutions and higher filtering.
I just dont think its worth it yet. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. I see some of the nForce 2 boards are going up in price. They still make a good system, though. I dunno I may just stick with what I have for now.

[RF]

Originally Posted by Esturk

Hmm.. how about an Nforce4 Ultra board with Socket 939? My buddy got an ASUS A8N-E with an Athlon64 3000+ and it's a beautiful thing. PCI Express is nice, and also the way of the future. We could have gone with a board with AGP.. but that would be limiting him in the future.

Hella go with a DFI LanParty NF4 SLI, they have some awesome boards and they come with a whole bunch of stuff aswell. They have even built memtest86 into the bios

[Esturk]

Originally Posted by Master Chief

PCI Express is nice, but, no game really is written to use all the power of two GPUs currently. I know some games are SLI ready, but still. The only time you get the full power out of two 7800 GTX cards is if your using a tech demo. Currently, they are good for using high screen resolutions and higher filtering.
I just dont think its worth it yet. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. I see some of the nForce 2 boards are going up in price. They still make a good system, though. I dunno I may just stick with what I have for now.

Actually the A8N-E is not SLI ready. It has one PCI-Express x16 slot. It's also cheaper than the A8N-SLI and the A8N-SLI Deluxe. Also isn't Socket 754 going to be discontinued?

As far as Nforce2 boards go... Well Socket A is kinda dead, unless you want a Sempron. I kinda limited myself when I upgraded. I'm already at 3200+, so when I upgrade it's going to be a big one.

[Master Chief]

I have an Athlon XP. Athlon XPs and Semprons are similar...

I'm running it at 2200mhz...not bad considering that an AMD64 3400+ runs at 2.2ghz(I know there are other things that make AMD64s better, but still). I could probably get this cpu to 2.3ghz. I can still get alot out of my cpu. Half Life 2 runs great! . I know it says Unknown CPU Type next to specifications, but thats only because the CPU isnt supported for my motherboard.

[Esturk]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. 2.2GHz isn't that bad, and I don't see any games that need 2+GHz yet. I can get my 2500+ to 2.3GHz easy, but I'm happy at 3200+ speeds. I'm going to wait a while to upgrade.. gonna go PCI-Ex and 64bit Dual Core when they get cheaper.

Sempron's and Athlon XP's are similar like Pentium's and Celeron's.

[dukenukem]

Actually the socket754 a643400+ is 2.4ghz.I'm gonna go with a venice core when ever i can afford too since it's such a great processor.

[Sampah]

what about the winchester?

[Master Chief]

You may be waiting a while for AMD Dual Cores to get cheaper . The latest one is 800$ on newegg.

[Esturk]

Originally Posted by Master Chief

You may be waiting a while for AMD Dual Cores to get cheaper . The latest one is 800$ on newegg.

Well they're pretty new still. Also I'm not too worried about my 2.2GHz getting old anytime soon.

The cheapest Athlon 64 X2 for sale around here is the 4200+ for $750.48 CDN. That's at a local store. Socket 939 is the best if you want to upgrade later because it will take the X2's later on when they're cheaper.

[General Plot]

Originally Posted by Sampah

what about the winchester?

AFAIK the Venice core is better than the Winchester cores (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

[Master Chief]

Dont know anything about Winchester, but Venice allows for a hell of alot of overclocking on stock cooling!

No one has answered the main question yet - Is integrated FSB into a CPU good?